Andy Murray: Not playing Wimbledon singles is ‘right’ call

Andy Murray said on Tuesday that his call to not play in the men’s singles at Wimbledon was the “right decision” and that he had given himself until the morning of his scheduled first-round match to decide on his fitness as he wanted to “sleep on it.”

Earlier on Tuesday, the two-time Wimbledon champion withdrew from his opening-round match where he had been due to face Tomas Machac on Centre Court and confirmed that he has played his final singles match at the championships.

Murray is still in the draw for the doubles, where he will play alongside brother Jamie. However, having had a procedure on a spinal cyst on June 22, he failed to recover in time to play singles.

“I told my team and my family that I didn’t think I’d play based on how I felt yesterday,” Murray told reporters at the All England Club on Tuesday.

“I practiced pretty well and was playing pretty good but I was just not happy about how my leg was feeling.

“I wanted to sleep on it and make sure I was happy with the decision and also give myself the chance when I woke up this morning to see if it felt much better.

“I ran around a bit at home this morning when I got up — it wasn’t where I wanted it to be unfortunately.

“It’s probably a few days too soon but I’m proud I worked extremely hard to give myself a chance to play. It’s the right decision.”

Murray said last week that he plans to retire after this summer’s Olympics. The ideal scenario was that Murray would play singles at both Wimbledon and at Paris 2024 but, though he was close to making a miracle recovery, his final act at the grass court championships will be in doubles.

Wimbledon said they were “sorry to hear” Murray was not playing in the singles.

“We are so looking forward to seeing you compete in the doubles and celebrating all the memories you have given us,” a post from the tournament’s account said on X.

The 37-year-old took to the Wimbledon practice courts on Tuesday with his brother under cloudy skies in southwest London as they prepared to open their doubles campaign later this week. The pair were joined by Andy’s coach Jonny O’Mara and Jamie’s coach Alan MacDonald.